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I testified about my life experience at the July 8th
hearing on resolution A049, the blessing of same gender couples. I followed the
eloquent Duke University sophomore, Jonathan York, as the second person to rise
in its favor. I was sandwiched between two people who opposed the legislation itself
and who clearly opposed any kind of blessing of same-gender couples. The collect
read by the chaplain of the committee prior to testimony called for that which
is cast down to rise up and for that which is old to be made new. It was
mindful of Ecclesiastes, “There is a time to be born and a time to die…”

First, let me say that I embrace a church that allows for
respectful dissent to be shared freely before our assembly. Voicing opinion is
vital to arriving at a place of right conduct. The person who spoke ahead of me
said that we are moving too fast. I couldn’t agree more that we are moving. But
it feels like a snail’s pace to me and my partner. Linda and I have been
together since 1982. How long would the speaker have us and the millions of our
fellow lesbian and gay sisters and brothers wait – people who have stories like
ours? How long is enough? What right does she have, by virtue of merely her heterosexuality,
to impinge so blithely on our personal experience? It is not like it is a
secret that lesbian and gay couples exist and live in loving and committed
relationships all over the country, and indeed the world.

The speaker after me, a woman priest, shocked me with her
words. She warned that if we passed A049 that there would be bloodshed in other
countries against Christians; therefore we should not endanger their lives — it
is too risky a business. I had been seated about 5 feet from her, in flesh and
blood. I think she did not hear a single word I had just said about my shared
life with Linda of nearly 30 years.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that she is not
involved in direct ministry with the endangered Christians she is so concerned about.
Violence against LGBT Christians in Uganda is a reality. Homosexuality is a
crime in 76 countries. The truth is that Christians are in danger all over the
world for various reasons, and while I do not want to endanger anyone, I think
this was an act of manipulation and emotional abuse. I thought about what
Jesus’ response might be and realized that for the most part, Jesus healed and
helped those in his midst, in his immediate presence. There were distance
healings, but mostly he responded to immediate needs that were closest to him.

And so, someone feeling threatened resorted to fear-mongering
and deflection. She ignored the compelling story unfolding right in front of
her face by a woman breathing the same air as she. I wanted to say, “I’m
standing right in front of you — I’m right here.” I was in her presence seeking
a healing and a rising up, and again LGBT people were cast down by such maneuvering.

What is most halting about this experience is that these
same old tactics were used to block the ordination of women in the early 70’s.
They were used in the 60’s to derail the African-American civil rights movement,
and against the women suffragists led by the intrepid Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony. They were employed to quiet the oratory prowess of
abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

I stand on the shoulders of these courageous change agents. We
all stand on the shoulders of someone who bravely opened a door that had been
locked tightly. We are now charged to knock and open doors, so that those who
come after us may also rise up and walk through them. And may we come through
those doors with the blessings of God Almighty.

I have read your
statement and I respect your choosing to state your positions. I
understand they are strongly held. I wish to state my positions and ask
that you respect my choice to do so as my positions are also strongly
held.

Rev. Deacon Carolyn Woodall

I am a recently
ordained deacon. I am a lawyer, currently working as a Public Defender,
almost a cradle Episcopalian, and no spring chicken. I am also
transgender. Depending on where I live, A049
may apply to me as well. This gives me a somewhat different perspective
on what it means to be a Christian, as well as on being Episcopal
clergy.

I very recently
took the same oath to which you refer. I took it with a clear conscience
and with a firm belief that the relationships of faithful, monogamous,
loving same-sex couples are worthy of recognition and blessing by the
church. I also believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to
be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation. The
sexual intimacy to which you refer, however, presupposes something else
- that the relationship must be between a man and a woman so that they
may procreate. We all know that procreation was of paramount importance.
Yet we will, as a church, perform marriage rites, or blessings of a
civil marriage, for couples who are not capable of procreation - be it
because of age or medical reasons. We recognize the legitimacy of
non-procreative relationships between men and women without qualm.
Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation, but it clearly was
never intended to contain all things necessary to meet every situation
in life for time eternal. Hence we rest our beliefs on Scripture,
Tradition and Reason. To do otherwise leaves us crippled as to our
ability to respond to changes in attitudes, society, technology and our
knowledge of our universe and ourselves.

The Book of
Common Prayer does state as you have said - marriage was established in
creation and it references a man and a woman. We have, over time,
changed the Book of Common Prayer. It is not immutable nor is it Holy
Writ. It is written by people for the purpose of setting forth our
beliefs and our liturgy. The current BCP even recognizes that priests
and bishops might be women. The drafters of the 1928 Book of Common
Prayer did not conceive of this. When the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was
drafted we had not yet reached the point in our society where same-sex
relationships were acknowledged as being anything but short term,
promiscuous, and devoid of love. Those who were in loving, long-term,
faithful, monogamous relationships knew better, but society did not.
Most people believed it to be a voluntary lifestyle, not innate. The
concept of innate sexual attraction which was anything other than
heterosexual was unknown in the time of Jesus. It was largely unknown
until approximately one hundred fifty years ago.

The provisional
liturgy does resemble a marriage ceremony, and it should. The
relationships being blessed are as wholesome, strong and of a character
of holiness as those we consider appropriate for marriage. This liturgy
will, in many cases, be used to bless civil marriages between same-sex
couples. But it does not take the final step of solemnizing a marriage
because it cannot by the laws of most states and the current state of
the canons. I pray those will, in time, change.

In your
paragraph six you state, "We are committed to the gay and lesbian
Christians who are members of our dioceses. Our Baptismal Covenant
pledges us to 'respect the dignity of every human being' (BCP, p. 305),
and we will continue to journey with them as together we seek to follow
Jesus." Forgive my bluntness, but I can not see in what way you are
committed to the gay and lesbian Christians who are members of your
dioceses. I find myself unable to see how you respect their dignity.
Marriage, as you know and understand it, is so very important to you
that you are compelled to put your objections in writing. Marriage
recognizes the legitimacy of a relationship. Many of those gay and
lesbian Christians in your dioceses are in relationships with someone
they dearly love and to whom they are faithful. Your statement seems
vehemently to say that their relationships, and by implication, they
themselves, are not worthy of recognition by the Church and the Church
must view them as strangers to each other. Are the needs for love and
companionship of the gay and lesbian Christians not worthy of
recognition by the church? Are those same gays and lesbians to be
considered members of an unworthy class of human being? If this is the
case, please just say so rather than insult them in this manner.

Our sexuality is
a major part of our identity - both as individuals and as members of
the Church. I chair the Commission on Equality in the Diocese of San
Joaquin, and it was once suggested to me that people should leave their
sexuality at the door when they come to church. The suggestion is, of
course, impossible of realization. Those of you who are married come to
church as part of a married couple. People know you are married and put
the two of you together in their minds. If for some reason any one of
you is not serving at the altar then you will probably sit with your
wife. Your relationship is accepted and respected and you do not, when
you walk in the door, suddenly become a stranger to each other. If you
are not willing to treat the relationships of your gay and lesbian
members with the same respect and recognition - or as closely as can be
done in places where they may not legally marry - then you run the risk
of being seen as being committed to the preservation of things as you
know and like them. Do these gay and lesbian couples not quite rise to a
level of humanity equal to that of a heterosexual couple? Perhaps they
rate a bit less respect than heterosexual human beings?

Not so very long
ago, at a diaconal ordination, the ordinands were told that the job of a
deacon is to be "a holy pain in the ass." I pray I have done my job and
presented an alternate perspective on this issue.

The Rev. Dcn. Carolyn Woodall

Deacon Carolyn Woodall from the Diocese of San Joaquin responds to the Bishops who signed the dissenting Indianapolis Statement.

Yesterday afternoon the deputation
from South Carolina went home. Not just because they were tired and the
Exhibition Hall has been closed and the Convention Center cafes are
hardly open, but:

"Due to the actions of General Convention, the South Carolina
Deputation has concluded that we cannot continue with business as usual.
We all agree that we cannot and will not remain on the floor of the
House and act as if all is normal. John Burwell and Lonnie Hamilton have
agreed to remain at Convention to monitor further developments and by
their presence demonstrate that our action is not to be construed as a
departure from the Episcopal Church. Please pray for those of us who
will be traveling early and for those who remain."

They didn’t explain why, but most pundits assume that it is in response
to the authorization of rites for same-gender blessings. That’s probably
correct because their Canon Theologian, Kendal Harmon had this to say
about the Same-Sex Blessing decision:

"This General Convention action is unbiblical, unchristian,
unanglican and unseemly. It will further wreak havoc among Anglicans,
and indeed Christians, in North America and around the world.

"By
making this decision, The Episcopal Church moves further away from
Jesus Christ and his teaching. It thereby makes it necessary for the
diocese of South Carolina to take further decisive and dramatic action
to distance itself from this false step.

"We in South Carolina
must differentiate to stay loyal to Christ, but also to keep our own
parish members and not hinder the mission of Jesus Christ who loves all
and transforms all by the power of the Holy Spirit to holiness of life, a
holiness which has a clear shape agreed by Christians East and West
throughout 20 centuries."

Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall

I am sorry that he sees it that way. It goes without saying that I don’t.

Harmon’s comment on holiness is surprising given the recent admission of Alan Chambers,
president of Exodus international, that they cannot “cure”
homosexuality after all. If I understand Harmon correctly he is saying
that Jesus Christ transforms us to a holiness which is defined by the
norms of the last two thousand years of Christianity. The problem with
that statement is that the Holy Spirit hasn’t done that for me. And I
know an awful lot of other people who haven’t been transformed into the
shape defined by two thousand years of history; twenty centuries that
have been wrought with conflict, war and oppression (I’m thinking
Crusades, Inquisition, Thirty Years war, slavery). I have stopped
trying to be heterosexual, I have stopped trying to be changed into that
restrictive shape of holiness. Instead I look for the fruits of the
Spirit in my life and ministry. And I see them.

So does the Episcopal Church. “To Set Our Hope on Christ”,
an important theological statement written for the Nottingham meeting
of the Anglican Consultative Council in 2005, says, “we note that
members of our Church have begun to discern genuine holiness in the
lives of persons of same-sex affection”. How much more so now we have
experienced the gifts of ministry in the life and person of two bishops,
as well as in the lives of the LGBT people we know and love.

We
cannot and will not go back into the cookie-cutter holiness that demands
that we conform to the social norms of a bygone era. Wasn’t that why
Jesus constantly challenged the Pharisees? Wasn’t that why Paul was so
opposed to circumcision and a return to the Jewish law?

In Christ
we are free. Free to live in a new way, and free to disagree. I am
grateful for a Church that includes both Kendal Harmon and me. We have
much to learn from one another. But I have to disagree that blessing
same-gender relationships is “unbiblical, unchristian, unanglican and
unseemly”.

Harmon knows my position even better than I know his,
so I won’t rehearse once again the argument against unbiblical and
unchristian. I suspect that “seemly” or “unseemly” is in the eye of the
beholder, or at least in the gut of the onlooker. Recent ethical theory
suggests that we often have a gut response to something for which we
then construct a rationale. “Seemliness” is surely a matter of the gut –
was it seemly for David to dance naked before the ark? Was it seemly
for Jesus to overturn the tables of the moneychangers?

But
unanglican (sic) I will push back against. The Church of England was
born in the middle of social upheaval and political controversy.
“Anglicanism” has been contextualized wherever it has gone and has
generated new understandings of God, humanity and the work of the
Trinity. We are a thoughtful, passionate people. We have major disputes
regularly. It is probably more normal for us to be disagreeing than to
be peacefully in sync with one another.

There are many Anglicans
who agree with our siblings in South Carolina. There are many other
Anglicans who agree with me. (Some of them may live in South Carolina
and may need the resources Integrity can offer.) There are even more
Anglicans who don’t need to take a position. I’m sorry that you “need to
differentiate to stay loyal to Christ” but I understand it. “We” also
need to differentiate to stay loyal to Christ. We need to differentiate
ourselves from those who preach religious oppression, from those who
would put LGBTQ people out of the church, those who would put people
like me in prison, or even to death. Their voices resonate loudly in the
ears of LGBTQ people and their allies.

Our world needs to hear
loud and clear that God loves everyone, no exceptions, and that God
doesn’t expect or even want, cookie-cutter holiness.

A
“Neutral Gender Bathroom” is located on the way to the Integrity
headquarters, aka the Nerve Center. Now my attorney-brain would prefer
the sign said, “Gender Neutral Bathroom,” but aside from issues of
syntax and semantics, I’m very pleased to see it. This designation for a
restroom facility was requested at the 2009 GC and was denied, so
progress has definitely occurred. This is especially important as Resolution D002 (inclusion of transpeople in the ordination discernment process) and D019 (inclusion of transpeople in lay leadership roles) have been passed as Acts of Convention (see IntegriTV Day 6 on YouTube.com for more info on the legislation process). That was a red letter day in the history of our beloved church.

I
had some fun photographing this sign. I wanted it to be abstract and
strange to look at, because for many, the idea of a range of gender
identities and expressions is completely new. I have been interested to
see people’s reactions to the sign. Some double-takes are occurring.
This is all a bit mysterious to a lot of people. In the House of
Bishops, someone asked, “What is gender expression?” It seems that many
are grappling with questions and trying to understand. That’s a good
thing. As Bishop Gene Robinson preached at the Integrity Eucharist on Monday, the learning curve is great, and much has yet to be done to ensure the full inclusion of transgender people.

It
feels unsettling because we are all placed in a box when we are born. I
was put in a pink box, and my brother was put in a blue box. He fits
his box quite well. He is a male, is masculine and heterosexual, and
identifies as a man. I’m female and identify as a woman, but as a
lesbian, and I have a more androgynous gender expression. I never wear
skirts. I don’t carry a purse. I wear a man’s watch.

The four
axes of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender
expression are all in play for each of us whether we can articulate them
formally or not. You can learn more about these concepts by watching a
wonderful documentary about the experiences of transpeople in “Out of the Box.” Copies are available from Integrity USA, and it’s on YouTube.

The
Gender Neutral Bathroom provides safe space for transpeople because,
culturally, our restroom facilities demand a dichotomy of male and
female gender/expression. Consequently, such a definition fails to
recognize the varying gender identity components of who we are as
people. Sexual orientation may or may not be a factor. For example, I
have used the women’s restroom all of my life without an issue because I
am recognized as a woman and presumed (maybe) to be heterosexual. I do
not express “maleness” when in the restroom. In other words, I can
“pass” as “normal” or heterosexual. Public restrooms can quickly become
hostile places for transpeople if the strict and unstated rules of
appearance and conduct are perceived to have been breached.

I
have been using this Gender Neutral restroom whenever possible as a show
of solidarity with my sisters and brothers in the transgendered
community. It hasn’t been easy for me to live in this society as a
lesbian, to be sure. But I think that transgender people have a much
more difficult experience because gender roles and expression are
intrinsically embedded in us from birth.

As a woman, I am
constantly assessing the safety of a given location because of the
possibility of rape or physical attack such as a mugging. I like the
idea of designated safe space for attending to personal matters and
applaud the General Convention planners for this vital first step in
true inclusion of our transgender people.

Marcia Ledford has
worked as a civil rights attorney for 25 years and is an Integrity
Volunteer on the Communications Team at GC12. She is a seminarian
studying for the Episcopal priesthood.

Bishop Gene Robinson 2012 Integrity Eucharist - Part 2 of 2

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The Episcopal Church at its 77th General Convention,
meeting in Indianapolis, decided today, by a large majority, to
authorize a service for same-sex couples. Starting on December 2, 2012,
Episcopal clergy, with the agreement of their bishop, will be able to
bless same-sex unions using the provisional liturgy authorized today by
the Convention, the Church’s governing body.

Integrity
USA has been working for thirty five years towards the full inclusion
of LGBT persons in the Church. Same-gender unions have been blessed in
Episcopal churches all over the country for decades, but this is the
first time a church-wide public service has been agreed. It is a
milestone in the journey toward achieving full inclusion, and being able
to truly declare that “all means all” in the worship life of the
denomination. It will enable Integrity to reach out to LGBT persons who
have been rejected by the churches they were raised in, as well as those
who were raised without any connection to Christianity.

The new blessing liturgy is not a marriage service. It does not use the
language of marriage, but emphasizes the lifelong, monogamous, committed
nature of the relationship being blessed. Integrity will continue to
work for full marriage equality in The Episcopal Church. The president
of Integrity, The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall, said “This is a hugely
important moment in the history of this church. The Episcopal Church
does not have statement of belief other than the ancient creeds. We say
that if you want to know what we believe, you can look at the words of
our worship. So a liturgy for blessing same-sex relationships brings gay
and lesbian couples fully into the life of the Church and proclaims
that the Episcopal Church considers that their lives can be holy and
blessed by God.”

This permission for same-sex blessings follows the addition of “gender
identity and expression” to the non-discrimination laws of The Episcopal
Church yesterday. This change makes it unlawful for transgender persons
to be excluded from leadership positions, either lay or ordained, based
solely on their status as transgender.

For further information, please contact Louise Emerson Brooks, at communication@integrityusa.org.

July 9 was a historic day for the Episcopal Church as it
declared that gender identity and gender expression are not reasons for
excluding someone from the discernment process for ordination, nor from any
other activity or lay position in the Church.

In 1994, the Episcopal Church expanded its
non-discrimination rules to include “sexual orientation,” but it has taken a
great deal of patient work from transgender people and their allies to bring
the Church to this point. Integrity's President, Caroline Hall explained, “just
as the Church began to accept gay and lesbian members and clergy as fellow
members of the Church with just as real a relationship with God, so over the
past five years, trans-men and -women have become visible. Their ministry among
us has been exemplary and they have worked tirelessly to help the Church
understand that to be transgender is as valid a human experience and as
acceptable to God as to be happily heterosexual.”

A few months before General Convention, Integrity released a
new video in the acclaimed “Voices of Witness” series. Called “Out of the Box,”
this video tells the story of transgender Episcopalians, both ordained and lay,
in their own words. It was sent to all deputies and bishops before the
Convention began, but demand has been high. Matt Haines, Integrity
Vice-President for Local Affairs, said, “They’ve been going like hotcakes.
People really love Out of the Box
and want to take it home to share with their friends and parishes.” It is also
available on YouTube.